Community Highlights

This will take a while to load, but it's well worth the wait.

Well done to Steve on capturing this stunning image!

I need to know who is booking for Kelling 2022 as this year I only have till mid November to sort out before the pitches go back for others to book.  I will let you all know booking references before Kelling for those who have confirmed they want to go
 
222        Sheila           going  confirmed  
223        EMS pitch      going  confirmed     
224        Daz               going  confirmed  
225        Mike
226        C Golder            
227                     
228        Stephen        going  confirmed     
229        G4SJI                
230        Tasking          going  confirmed   
231.       Dennis              
237        Ibbo                 
238        Dave JW        going  confirmed   
239        Geezanova        
240        Allan                 
241        
 
Sheila
 
 

That time of year again.  Please can you let me know if you want pitches for 2022 and I will see if I can reserve them again,  Not sure they will as we have
e mails saying they will only hold pitches until 8.11.21
 
I will do my best to sort it all out again if they allow, but you must let me know asap if you will be going.  We do not want to lose the best pitches if we can avoid it.
They are asking for folks to book via phone which should be fun as they are not too good at answering the phone  LOL
 
Also I note that there are extra charges now for awnings and dogs I think.
 
Please let me know asap
 
Look forward to seeing you all this year as we have had a long gap and I have forgotten how to use my kit 😁
 
Thanks
 
Sheila

If you'd like to share images in your posts on EMS, the following guides will show you five ways of doing this.
 
The guides do not show you how to use each of the services, only how to share an image you've already uploaded.
 
Flickr
 
OneDrive
 
AstroBin
 
Dropbox
 
EMS Gallery
 

Thank you for your patience while this upgrade was completed. Unfortunately it took longer than expected due to some technical issues with our server.
 
EMS has been upgraded to the latest software that runs our software, bringing with it some improvements (stuff you won't really care about, like better spam defense) and a significant new feature.
 
Web App Push Notifications
 
If you're on Android and use the default web browser, you can create a web app using Chrome which adds EMS to your smart phone screen, like an app, which will allow push notifications. I'm not an Android user so that's as much as I know, but if you want to know more you can check out the instructions for adding a website as a web app, provided by Google, here: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/9658361?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en
 
Achievements
 
The headline features for this update are the new rank system and achievements.
 
Previously, forum ranks were based solely on how much you posted in the forum and gallery. Each post or gallery image added "1" point towards your overall rank. That meant the only way to increase your forum rank was to post content, with no credit given for other activities, such as giving and receiving reactions. These old ranks have been replaced with new ones, which are more visible and based on more than just content created in the forum and gallery. You now earn points towards your rank by posting in the forums, uploading images to the gallery, reacting to posts (which gives reputation to the poster), receiving reputation, having your content followed or being followed by another member. The more you interact with each other in various ways, the more points are earned towards your forum rank.
 
You can also earn badges by performing certain actions. Newer members can earn a badge by making their first post, or replying a few times to posts, while more established members can earn badges by posting their 500th post or by receiving the..................

Has everybody seen the e-mail from Kelling regarding the 2021 star party?
 
Looks like they are basing 2021 entry on 2020 bookings, so you are automatically entered into the same pitch, same time frame ETC.
 
It is all explained on the e-mail but there is a time limit to book / make alterations, so please check your e-mails.

Please can you post on here if you intend to book your pitches for 2021  .....  I will keep the pitches as this current year unless anyone lets me know
they do not require their pitch.  Once we have the list I can then send out booking references to book at Kelling this year
 
Sheila

With Kelling fast approaching and Coronavirus still very much on everybody's minds, be sure to keep informed by keeping an eye on this thread.

Welcome to the newest version of the East Midlands Stargazers website
 
Thank you all for your patience while the website was offline.
 
Reminder: the first step in fixing any bugs is to clear your browser cache! 😉
 
New Features...

Downtime this Saturday, 12 September 2020
 
East Midlands Stargazers will be down, this Saturday, while a software upgrade and server migration are performed.
 
What's changing?
 
EMS is being modernised, once again, to bring us up to modern standards and introduce a few new features.
 
Customisation options
 
You'll be able to customise the way EMS looks and feels according to your own preferences, including the use of a light or dark theme (see the next paragraph)...

Internet Explorer will no longer be supported. Internet Explorer has been clinging to life for a lot longer than many anticipated. It uses an archaic rendering engine, has numerous vulnerabilities that impact both security and privacy, requires workarounds to get it to work with many websites, including ours, and has been surpassed by Microsoft's own newer Edge browsers (in two versions.)

This is a brilliant and moving poem about our heroes in the NHS fighting the virus. The poem was heard on the radio and the creator of this video combined it with images of the crisis in our hospitals. Please stay safe everyone.

Hi,
Some Astro show dates for your diary's.
 
European Astrofest 2020 :  Friday January 31 + Saturday February 1st      Kensington, London.  (yes, its early this year !)   Links below for full details :
https://europeanastrofest.com
 
 
Practical Astronomy Show 2020 :  Saturday 21 March 2020     Kettering     Show link and speaker info just released below :
https://practicalastroshow.com/speakers/?fbclid=IwAR1ZGlvAG2q_OUcRbKzONo8E9puSIqyN9ABnqfNWEtu3g5FyOp8TJFkDv_M
 
 
International Astronomy Show 2020 :   Dates in November to be confirmed.   Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire.   Link below to homepage for more info :
https://www.ukastroshow.com
 
 
After 15 consecutive visits to Astrofest, i have decided to give it a miss this year 😓
Reasons include me being disappointed with the show in 2018 & 2019, the travel involved, as well as 2 other shows closer to home.
 
But i will definitely be at the PAS in March and almost certainly at the IAS in November as well.
I thought the PAS was excellent last year, and for a first show for them, they hit the ground running and its all for free !!
 
@Derbyshire Dave : you may be interested in the 'APT' talk ?
 
Hopefully i'll see some of you there in Kettering ??  
Regards, Rob 😀
 

Really needs more data
3 x 1800 S2
3 x 1800 Ha
1x 1800 O3
Tak102 reduced to 5.7
 

I decided on a shoot-out with two conventional 1.25" prism diagonals: a Takahashi TAKSD1 and a Baader Planetarium T-2. The telescope used was an Orion 90mm StarMax Maksutov.
 

Baader Planetarium Prism Diagonal T-2/90deg and Takahashi TAKSD1
 
These two prism diagonals were also compared against a third which is a 1.25" Baader Zeiss Amici (also equipped with a helical focuser).
 

Baader Zeiss Amici
 
The target was primarily a setting twilight Venus, although I also intended to view Saturn as it was in conjunction with Venus on the 11th of December. I didn’t have much time before both planets were too low so I primarily used an 18mm Astro Hutech, giving 69x. Venus was very bright and easily seen early on with a 25mm AH orthoscopic. For Venus I also employed a Baader Double Polarising filter.
 

Venus/Saturn conjunction
 
The Tak’ was up first.
 

 
It is a lightweight diagonal and I have read reviews stating that the housing is plastic. I'm pretty sure it isn't and is a light metal alloy or possibly aluminium. I'm not so sure about the base plate, but I'm not totally convinced it isn’t also metal. It could very well be be a hard type of plastic. Unlike the Baader diagonals there is no filter thread in the nosepiece. Some have complained about the Tak's plastic collet snagging undercuts. I haven’t had any real problems although it helps if you use smoothies and barrels with shallow undercuts or those with lower lip flares (GSO, Tele Vue). The TAKSD1 gave a bright, sharp image with no light scatter and easily revealed the Venusian phase. The conventional Baader was next, followed by the Amici. Apart from the mirror reversing I could tell no difference between the Tak’ and the Amici. There was no hint of the prism roof with the Zeiss Amici. The Baader Planetarium T-2 also gave a sharp image, although I thought it was fractionally darker.
 

 
The amount was almost imperceptible though and may have been my imagination. As Saturn became more prominent I switched all three to that.
 

 
I can't choose a real winner. The Takahashi gave a bright, sharp image as did the Baader Zeiss Amici. The Baader bog-standard wasn't really any different and had the advantage over the Tak' of having a helical focuser. The Takahashi and standard Baader diagonals are about the same price.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Meteor detection counts September - November 2019
 
Although I've not really posted any results, my meteor detector has been running since mid August without too many major issues.  It's tucked away in a corner and I often forget it's still running.
 
I've finally got around to updating my spreadsheet from the data automatically captured by the Spectrum Lab RMOB files.
 
I had a few problems in September with local interference causing some crazy readings (hundreds per hour in some cases), i zeroed out those that were obviously wrong.
I'm fairly certain some of it was due to heavy electrical equipment being used over the road and in direct line of sight of the antenna.
 
October and November were both much better with good levels of hits per day and no problems from external interference.
 
September:

 
October:

 
November:

 
I've seen posts on the RMOB facebook page of people detecting Elon Musk's Starlink chain as it goes over Southern France.
I've checked my captures and not seen anything that I can link to the pass times ...... which is good as I don't actually want them!
 
Current RMOB data for December:  This is live so will update each hour with the latest results.

 
 
Al

Very, very rarely do I have a go at the moon, but it was so prominent last night I had a go at 18:30. Plan was to go to an observatory meeting and then come back and go deep sky. When I git back it had all gone ☹️
 
Still, pleased with this, 500 frames on the ASI183MM through the GT81, processed in Autostakkert and Registax..
 
 

Picture of the Month November 2019
 
A poor month clear sky wise unfortunately but some hardy folk have been out there catching photons, well done all.

We've made a few festive tweaks to the forum to celebrate the festive season: twinkling lights, a snowy logo and falling snow. 🎅🏻 Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Anyone follow Nasa's 'Astronomy picture of the day" ?
If you don't i thought i'd share todays image with you.
 
What an amazing object, from the Amazing Hubble Space Telescope !
 
It's known as Hoag's object or Hoag's galazy.
Its very faint at Magnitude 16 and is located in the constellation of Serpens, and is a mere 600 million light years away.
It doesn't have NGC classification and is listed as PGC (Principle galaxy catalogue) 54599
 
If only i could see something like that from my own telescope ?!! 😀🔭
 

 

I bagged a bonus 4hrs last night to top up my data on M45 - The Pleiades. It's coming along nicely. Starting to see the surrounding dust. 7.5hrs total up to now. Pure RGB with my Redcat \ Canon 450d combo.

Hi,
 Had major issue with the laptop dying last week. Thankfully a replacement motherboard sorted it, or I would have been stuffed for EMS5!.
 
 So, having played with SGPro at Kelling for the first time, including autofocus on filter changes, I was keen to try it out at home. This is a single evenings images. Only 8x10 minute exposures on each of the Sii, Ha, and Oiii filters, so noise could be a bit better. Still, very pleased to have got this in one evening..
 
 

This was taken last night through constant high cloud.
Considering the conditions I am amazed it turned out like it did.
 
600 second subs in HA, OIII and SII with a combined total time of 7 hours.
 
Williams Optics GT 81 with 0.6 FR /FF.
QSI 683 WSG.
Captured and stacked in Maxim.
Beaten into submission in PS 6.
 

Ts 71 lrgb from Kelling and home
 
I will try to get some ha before I call this finished.